Fun Materials, Books & Games For Phonics!

[rocklee]

Hi Buds


I read some of your postings here and I must say that I really admire your creative ways of teaching children. I always believe that learning should be fun and not a chore. Unfortunately, my children find that homework is always a chore. Despite giving them 100% of my free time and effort in helping them with their revisions, the results may not be satisfactory. So I see that doing assessments and worksheets may not be an effective way of learning.

My son always looks forward to group work or discussions in school. He also enjoys making presentations and of course his favourite is the PE lesson. This shows that he prefers more interactive way of learning instead of doing homework all the time. Therefore, it has become the greatest challenge for me to make homework "interesting".

I have tried bringing my children downstairs to a quiet corner whereby we just do some light reading or play some word games. This is to help them to stay focus and get them away from the distractions at home, eg tv, computer games, psp etc. We also tried story telling. Sometimes, before we go to sleep, each of us is suppose to think of a short story to tell. It can be anything imaginary. This is to encourage their creativity and at the same time to speak proper English or Chinese. However, I really run out of ideas at times. We also played games like scrabble and pictionary. My children simply love these activities. I enjoy doing these activities with them too but it requires a lot of effort on my part to keep it going. Hence, it could be very taxing.

I wonder if you have any interesting ideas in teaching children of the lower primary that can relate to what they are learning in school?

Thanks.

[buds]

Heyya rocklee,


I can understand where you are coming from and please allow me
to first tell you that you ARE really doing a lot! One thing why some
children are put off worksheets and assessments is coz they've had
enuf of the paperwork in school... in tuition class... and we still wanna
make them do more paper based assignments when they're back with
us.. Quite poor thing really lah if we think about it. Imagine us all
working our bones off day after day... after day... :roll: ... sigh... no
rest and just never ending work.... yup, no fun in that, yo..

As much as seat work is important, fun activities can inspire learning too.
So does enuf sleep and outdoor time for playground and leisure sports...
these will help too. Growing children need time to unwind to
release the tensions and requirements of school. Or else they tire easily
and may seem unmotivated. There are also children who are just plain
studious and find joy in studying, reading or finding out more information
over the topics done in school, etc.. But at times we do have to be more
creative with our time with children of this generation. The expectations
of now and before is a total contrast.

I know it IS very taxing for you, devoting your entire free time for your
children to ensure they keep up. On my end, i will try to whip up some
creative juices on your request. As for your end, i hope you will find
some \"ME TIME\" for you to de-stress, rest or unwind... away from your
two \"emperors\". It is imperative that you are rested to enjoy
your children better, darling! Take care..

And join us for the auction later if you can.. The adrenaline rush can be
better than physical exercise out running the treadmill @ the gym. Hehee!
But not for the faint hearted tho.. you've been warned. Kekekeke.. :lol:

[buds]

It is also fun to carry out craft activities with young children after they

manage to follow lessons well. Try this http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mbagcat.htm to reinforce the
\"ag\" word family.

Word family worksheets available http://www.kidzone.ws/phonics/worksheets2.htm
and http://www.kidzone.ws/phonics/worksheets1.htm

Did your child understand the story from the booklet you made?
Here's a http://www.dltk-teach.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.dltk-teach.com/minibooks/cat/b-activity.gif to do to emphasize on story comprehension.

Then print out two of each of these http://www.kidzone.ws/phonics/bphonics1.htm and play word family snap!

These are just some ideas to inspire you to learn thru hands on activities
with your children. Such activities simultaneously provides revision on
Object Box 1 and Picture Box 1, that you have done with them to
introduce some of the 3-letter phonetic words with vowel /a/ in them.

Have fun!

[rocklee]

Thanks buds. Will try more hands on activities with my children during the school holidays. I always emphasize to my children "work hard and play hard". Looks like we can always incorporate "work" into "play" and kill two birds in one stone.


Cheers

[Starling]

Thanks Buds for introducing such useful websites. Was contemplating buying books at Popular just now & am glad I save the $.


Bought a few Phonics range from Scholastic range, ie those with letters starting A, B, etc to Z and the short & long vowels. 3 for $9.90.
will try out with my kids next week before deciding whether to get more…
The whole range wont be cheap …retailing $4.50/book.

I can’t see much improvement from my boy who is having the phonics enrichment from his current childcare, so I guess I’ll have to spend more time.

[buds]

Thanks guys. I posted http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=877&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45 here too. Good for kiddies

who do not like to do seat work for a long time. [Kinaesthetic Learners]

[jessn]

Hi!


Thinking of getting some interesting dvd/vcd to teach my kid words. Currently, I have the leapfrog letter factory and talking words.

Heard that there is this dvd called word machine. Do you think this is good or is this a duplicate of the leapfrog?

Any others that you will recommend coz I hve no inkling which is good?

Tks for your help…

[buds]

I've not watched the Leapfrog DVD before but

THE WORD MACHINE is entertaining, catchy,
goofy and not bad at all! My girls enjoy it!
Me too, actually!

[ChiefKiasu]

buds:

I've not watched the Leapfrog DVD before but

THE WORD MACHINE is entertaining, catchy,
goofy and not bad at all! My girls enjoy it!
Me too, actually!

Yeah... I love the Mean Mom Song...
\"Don't put mud in my mug, Mum,
Leave it in the jug, Mum...\"

[buds]

LADYBIRD PHONICS CARDS

Cards to help your child to connect sounds, spellings and words.

Ladybird Phonics Cards are a good source of reinforcement for children
who are doing phonetic reading. This game provides the suspense &
hands-on adventure to revision on phonics. Measuring at 155 x 163mm,
and colourfully illustrated, children are stimulated to get into the game.
And not that expensive too. Available @ Popular.


http://www.postimage.org/


There are 6 different colour coded levels to play.

http://www.postimage.org/

Sort the cards into the specific colours prior to play..
Face cards all down with the card that says START right at the top.

Say you wish to work with the 3 letter phonetic word level..
After arranging all the 6 green cards with the START card on
top... Each card has a word printed on one side and a picture
with a short instruction sentence on the other side... all cards
should be arranged with all the word \"sides\" facing you/upwards.
Flip the START card to begin.


http://www.postimage.org/


The card turns over to reveal a picture of a cat and the instruction
says... \"This rhymes with....\" Which means child is to find a word
card that has a word that rhymes with the word 'cat'. Since the
cards are self-correctional, the only word card that matches would
be 'pat'.. Next, you can show your child how to check if it is right.
Look at each letter one at a time and sound them out. The ending
word family would be spelt the same/sound the same if the cards
are played correctly. If it's correct... now flip the 'pat' card. It now
reveals a picture of the number 10. And the instruction says, \"This
rhymes with... \" Find a word card that rhymes with t-e-n/t-en.. and
so on...


http://www.postimage.org/


When the game is completed, the last card will reveal a nice and
colourful \"WELL DONE!\" card! My girls had fun playing this and felt
a sense of achievement each time they finished a level. The only
downside to this is... no advance play cards for the higher level of
phonics readers. They should come up with one lah... or in my case
just make my own lah. Not that difficult to make using that
same concept.


http://www.postimage.org/


Encourage hands-on learning, for.......
\"What goes through the hands, goes to the mind...\"